I plan to revisit our wiki site often. The resources available to me on this site will help me to plan my lessons using UDL to differentiate. It will also provide me with quality resources, including our UDl presentations, to share with my collegues so that my school can not only take part in this awesome teaching, but also feel comfortable doing it.
There are three ways I will use technology in my class to meet the diverse needs of my students. The first one I use whenever I lecture on a new topic. I use a Power Point that is complied of pictures, video links, and interactive links. This allows all students to learn the topic. I plan to try to add in voicethreads and xtranormal videos that I create on each concept. The second one I will use will be to give the students a choice as to how they complete major assignments. They will be allowed to choose from written reports, voicethreads, Power Points, or Xtranormal to complete the assignments for credit. The third thing I will use will be websites that will guide me through making the perfect graphic organizer for each unit. I may also have the students create graphic organizers over certain concepts. Using Technology to Differentiate Instruction -Resources ( 12/8/10) I found two really awesome resources that will be helpful to all teachers in planning their lessons. www.theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8484-using-technology-to-differentiate-instruction This site is great for teachers to use when planning and for students to use when completing projects for a class. It gives websites that will help with understanding and completion of assignments. The websites are broken down into the learning style areas. If you are a visual learner you could try one of the websites geared toward visual learners to complete the assignment. The main website is also a great site for teachers to go and search any topic dealing with teaching and learning. Teachers can find articles and resources to help them plan the best for their students. www.theapple.monster.com The second website gives teachers tools that they can use to develop lessons that incorporate differentiated instruction while including technology. There are great links to use such as the graphic organizers and the process guides. www.lifestreamcenter.net/drb/workshops/scaffold/differ.htm
Summary: In this article Carol Ann Tomlinson discusses through an interview by Education World how to differentiate instruction for all students inside that classroom. This article shows teachers what differentiated instruction is and how to incorporate it into the classroom. Tomlinson explains how to teach the students the concepts based on how each student learns. The best way to do this in the classroom is to place the students in cooperative groups to complete activities based on the level of understanding. Students that may need the teachers assistance or if using technology the students that need additional guidance should be placed together, students that can complete the activity or use the technology without assistance should be placed in a group together, and then the ones that can complete the activity with ease and may need a more difficult activity should work together. By having groups based on their level of understanding you as the teacher can insure that all students that need the help get the help. Your groups will change depending on the concepts being taught.
Summary: In this article Rick Wormeli discusses his book Fair Isn’t Always Equal, in an interview by Education World. The focus is to put students in groups, based on their interest. It is important to ask the students questions by giving them a survey or talking with them one on one in order to determine their interest. Once you know your students interest you can group them based on their similarities. Some students need to be able to see visuals, some need written explanations, and some need to actually manipulate the concept. Some students prefer to work alone, while others enjoy speaking or acting in front of people, and finally some students enjoy the divide and conquer mode of developing a structured presentation of their findings. No matter what the interest are if they are grouped with others similar to them they will remain excited and engaged during the lesson. By having students in groups based on interest they work well together and limit any disagreements that groups sometimes have. When the students are grouped based on interest it is also nice to give the groups a choice as to how they complete the assignment. Some groups will chose a written project with visuals, some will chose to act out a skit, and others may just prefer a powerpoint or xtranormal presentation. It does not matter how the activity is completed as long as they are engaged and learning.
Learning Styles
Title: Multiple Intelligences: Seven Ways to Approach Curriculum
Summary: In this article Dr. Thomas Armstrong discusses the seven different multiple intelligences that are found in humans. In the past schools focused mostly on the intelligences that dealt with reading and math. This is not true in today’s schools because we have discovered that all students learn differently and just because they are not good with math or reading does not mean that they cannot learn the same concepts by using a different style. In the classroom it is important for a teacher to plan the lessons according to the eight different intelligences. You do not have to use them all every day, but incorporate as many as you can into each concept. In class I try to give a written explanation, visual, verbal, real life connection, and hand on activities that cover the main concept during my lesson or unit. Another way to focus on the intelligences is to give the students choices when they are to complete assignments. Allow them to choose from a list of assignments that you develop. As the teacher should make sure that you develop assignments that will fit each of the intelligences. By giving the students the choice and having a choice that they find interesting and fun, you will see success rise consistently.
Interest Survey I found a student interest survey online that is a great tool for teachers to use with their students on the first day of school. This survey comes from the book Day one and Beyond, by Rick Wormell. This survey would be a great way for teachers to get to know their students. The survey will help the teacher be able to plan lessons that will relate to the students interest and hobbies. This is a survey that would be best used with middle school and high school aged students. I have saved this link so that I can use it with my students. The link to this site is http://www.union.k12.sc.us/ems/Teachers-Forms--Student%20Interest%20Survey.htm Learning Styles Survey The learning styles survey that I found online was called VARK. The website was very informative for anyone that visits the site. While looking around on the website I found a standard survey for people to take, but also one for younger people, and one for athletes. I took that survey for younger people because I wanted to see the questions. It is something that all middle school and high school students would benefit from in school. This would be a good survey to give at the beginning of the school year. This survey will help the teachers gather data on how their students learn best. Once the teachers have this information they can plan to include all aspects into their lessons. This survey breaks down the learning styles into visual, aural, read/write, or kinesthetic. The website this survey is found on is http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=younger
Multiple Intelligence The multiple intelligence survey I found is used by teachers to see which intelligences are used most often in the classroom. This is an interactive site that allows the students to answer questions and then get the results of their top three learning intelligences. This is another great survey that would be good to give at the beginning of the year so that they teachers and students have an understanding of how they learn the best. Once they get their top three intelligences they are given information that gives them suggestions of some activities to try. This survey would work good for all age groups starting from when the students can read and understand what they are reading. The address for this survey is http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html Learning profile inventory I found a general information sheet that would be a great tool for the teachers to give the students when they first come into class. This sheet is for basic information such as phone numbers, parents information, birthday, favorite color, candy, drink, and hobbies. This is good information for a teacher so that they can reward the student with some of their favorite things or even use their favorites in a lesson. This is also a place that teachers can have students write down their intelligences, learning styles, and other important information that will help the student be successful. The website I found this is http://www.union.k12.sc.us/ems/Teachers--Forms--Student%20Information%20Sheet.htm
There are three ways I will use technology in my class to meet the diverse needs of my students. The first one I use whenever I lecture on a new topic. I use a Power Point that is complied of pictures, video links, and interactive links. This allows all students to learn the topic. I plan to try to add in voicethreads and xtranormal videos that I create on each concept. The second one I will use will be to give the students a choice as to how they complete major assignments. They will be allowed to choose from written reports, voicethreads, Power Points, or Xtranormal to complete the assignments for credit. The third thing I will use will be websites that will guide me through making the perfect graphic organizer for each unit. I may also have the students create graphic organizers over certain concepts.
Using Technology to Differentiate Instruction -Resources ( 12/8/10)
I found two really awesome resources that will be helpful to all teachers in planning their lessons.
www.theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/8484-using-technology-to-differentiate-instruction
This site is great for teachers to use when planning and for students to use when completing projects for a class. It gives websites that will help with understanding and completion of assignments. The websites are broken down into the learning style areas. If you are a visual learner you could try one of the websites geared toward visual learners to complete the assignment. The main website is also a great site for teachers to go and search any topic dealing with teaching and learning. Teachers can find articles and resources to help them plan the best for their students. www.theapple.monster.com
The second website gives teachers tools that they can use to develop lessons that incorporate differentiated instruction while including technology. There are great links to use such as the graphic organizers and the process guides. www.lifestreamcenter.net/drb/workshops/scaffold/differ.htm
Readiness
Title: Different Strokes For Little Folks: Carol Ann Tomlinson on Differentiated Instruction
URL: http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat107.shtml
Summary: In this article Carol Ann Tomlinson discusses through an interview by Education World how to differentiate instruction for all students inside that classroom. This article shows teachers what differentiated instruction is and how to incorporate it into the classroom. Tomlinson explains how to teach the students the concepts based on how each student learns. The best way to do this in the classroom is to place the students in cooperative groups to complete activities based on the level of understanding. Students that may need the teachers assistance or if using technology the students that need additional guidance should be placed together, students that can complete the activity or use the technology without assistance should be placed in a group together, and then the ones that can complete the activity with ease and may need a more difficult activity should work together. By having groups based on their level of understanding you as the teacher can insure that all students that need the help get the help. Your groups will change depending on the concepts being taught.
Interest
Title: Applying Differentiated Instruction
URL: http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat223.shtml
Summary: In this article Rick Wormeli discusses his book Fair Isn’t Always Equal, in an interview by Education World. The focus is to put students in groups, based on their interest. It is important to ask the students questions by giving them a survey or talking with them one on one in order to determine their interest. Once you know your students interest you can group them based on their similarities. Some students need to be able to see visuals, some need written explanations, and some need to actually manipulate the concept. Some students prefer to work alone, while others enjoy speaking or acting in front of people, and finally some students enjoy the divide and conquer mode of developing a structured presentation of their findings. No matter what the interest are if they are grouped with others similar to them they will remain excited and engaged during the lesson. By having students in groups based on interest they work well together and limit any disagreements that groups sometimes have. When the students are grouped based on interest it is also nice to give the groups a choice as to how they complete the assignment. Some groups will chose a written project with visuals, some will chose to act out a skit, and others may just prefer a powerpoint or xtranormal presentation. It does not matter how the activity is completed as long as they are engaged and learning.
Learning Styles
Title: Multiple Intelligences: Seven Ways to Approach Curriculum
URL: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/articles/7_ways.phpSummary: In this article Dr. Thomas Armstrong discusses the seven different multiple intelligences that are found in humans. In the past schools focused mostly on the intelligences that dealt with reading and math. This is not true in today’s schools because we have discovered that all students learn differently and just because they are not good with math or reading does not mean that they cannot learn the same concepts by using a different style. In the classroom it is important for a teacher to plan the lessons according to the eight different intelligences. You do not have to use them all every day, but incorporate as many as you can into each concept. In class I try to give a written explanation, visual, verbal, real life connection, and hand on activities that cover the main concept during my lesson or unit. Another way to focus on the intelligences is to give the students choices when they are to complete assignments. Allow them to choose from a list of assignments that you develop. As the teacher should make sure that you develop assignments that will fit each of the intelligences. By giving the students the choice and having a choice that they find interesting and fun, you will see success rise consistently.
My UDL Presentation
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7843059/
Interest Survey
I found a student interest survey online that is a great tool for teachers to use with their students on the first day of school. This survey comes from the book Day one and Beyond, by Rick Wormell. This survey would be a great way for teachers to get to know their students. The survey will help the teacher be able to plan lessons that will relate to the students interest and hobbies. This is a survey that would be best used with middle school and high school aged students. I have saved this link so that I can use it with my students. The link to this site is http://www.union.k12.sc.us/ems/Teachers-Forms--Student%20Interest%20Survey.htm
Learning Styles Survey
The learning styles survey that I found online was called VARK. The website was very informative for anyone that visits the site. While looking around on the website I found a standard survey for people to take, but also one for younger people, and one for athletes. I took that survey for younger people because I wanted to see the questions. It is something that all middle school and high school students would benefit from in school. This would be a good survey to give at the beginning of the school year. This survey will help the teachers gather data on how their students learn best. Once the teachers have this information they can plan to include all aspects into their lessons. This survey breaks down the learning styles into visual, aural, read/write, or kinesthetic. The website this survey is found on is http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=younger
Multiple Intelligence
The multiple intelligence survey I found is used by teachers to see which intelligences are used most often in the classroom. This is an interactive site that allows the students to answer questions and then get the results of their top three learning intelligences. This is another great survey that would be good to give at the beginning of the year so that they teachers and students have an understanding of how they learn the best. Once they get their top three intelligences they are given information that gives them suggestions of some activities to try. This survey would work good for all age groups starting from when the students can read and understand what they are reading. The address for this survey is http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html
Learning profile inventory
I found a general information sheet that would be a great tool for the teachers to give the students when they first come into class. This sheet is for basic information such as phone numbers, parents information, birthday, favorite color, candy, drink, and hobbies. This is good information for a teacher so that they can reward the student with some of their favorite things or even use their favorites in a lesson. This is also a place that teachers can have students write down their intelligences, learning styles, and other important information that will help the student be successful. The website I found this is http://www.union.k12.sc.us/ems/Teachers--Forms--Student%20Information%20Sheet.htm
Personal Survey
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?PREVIEW_MODE=DO_NOT_USE_THIS_LINK_FOR_COLLECTION&sm=F5B%2faCstbk0kHXCLdr2%2bqY7o2exq2MG79JklyN78bs8%3d